Panty Raids and Fire Alarms

Did you know that the first documented panty raid "incident" occurred at the University of Michigan in 1952? And that it started because of the weather?

(Photo: Lin Jones, U-M Photo Services,
from the archives of The Michigan Daily)

This article is hilarious to me as an alumna and an interesting look into the lives of students over fifty years ago. Colleges movies set in the 1950s are pretty spot-on, what with the housemothers, curfews, and the general lack of freedom for women.

To summarize: It was late March, and for the first time in months, the weather was mild. The natives were restless! One male student started playing a trumpet, and in the dorm across the street, a trombonist soon battled against him (I know. Nerds). Soon, 600 men were fighting in the streets. This soon escalated into a mob, as they rocked police cars, marched through the streets, and broke into the female dorms. "Unmentionables" were swiped from dressers. It was a free for all.

By the time the men got to Alice Lloyd Hall, women residents had locked the front doors. This apparently fueled the fire. The rowdies got in through side doors, raced upstairs and into women's rooms, and seized what the Ann Arbor News called "miscellaneous female unmentionables." The Detroit News, less squeamish, said the men took "items of lingerie as souvenirs."

I love that my alma mater hosted the origin of something naughty. Because Hash Bash and The Naked Mile wasn't enough.